


How To Kiss the Boy You Like

by rangerhitomi



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: 0kumi Friendship, M/M, Miwa Teaches Kai to Kiss His Crush While Ibuki Watches, Platonic Relationships, Practice Kissing, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Wingmen Miwa and Ibuki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 10:09:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19885882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: Kai is really obvious about his longtime crush on Aichi that he's been too afraid to act on and Miwa decides it's time to help Kai conquer that fear. By teaching his idiot friend how to kiss Aichi, of course.





	How To Kiss the Boy You Like

With Kai being overseas for three years and Ibuki investigating one or another potentially world-ending conspiracies, they haven’t had an opportunity to be together like this, just the three of them, catching up after years of trauma, depression, soul-searching, and/or stress; they’re old enough to drink now, a fact that Miwa relishes as he invites his two oldest and best friends to his apartment for a calm night in. They’ve managed to hold out for an entire hour without throwing down a challenge to play Vanguard, which Miwa is glad for, at least for the time being, because they have been chatting more about their lives over the past few years than Miwa thought they would, and it’s nice to catch up.

“More beer?” Miwa offers, holding out a bottle.

Kai shakes his head slowly. Only two beers in and already falling asleep, Miwa notes. “It’s giving me heartburn.”

There’s a quiet snort from Miwa’s sofa, where Ibuki is stretched out, reading an outdated issue of _Vanguard Monthly_. It has a ridiculously attractive picture of Olivier Gaillard on the front, which Kai eyes with a particularly grumpy frown.

“Do you have something to say?” Kai nurses a glass of water between his hands.

“Since when did you get heartburn?” Ibuki peers over the top of the magazine. “I’m not sure you’ve eaten one unhealthy thing in your entire life.”

“I’m surprised you don’t,” Kai replies tonelessly, “considering I’m not sure you’ve eaten anything _healthy_ in your entire life.”

Miwa laughs into his beer as Ibuki returns Kai’s frown and goes back to reading his magazine without responding.

They’re poking fun at the other in good humor. It's nothing like how they used to be, with Kai’s outgoing and overconfident bravado contrasting with Ibuki’s timidity. Miwa is the outgoing one of the trio; Kai and Ibuki are both far more reserved, yet somehow far easier to read.

“Hey Kai, you didn’t mention having heartburn last week when we had a beer,” Miwa points out. “Is this a new development?”

Kai rubs his chest and frowns into his water. “I guess? It’s been on and off since... Friday?"

Miwa thinks back to Friday, which just so happened to be Aichi's welcome home party. Kai had left shortly after Aichi arrived, and unless he had gone home to drink later that night all by himself, had not consumed any alcohol whatsoever. "I see." He takes another swig of his beer and watches Kai thoughtfully; Kai, still staring into his water, doesn't seem to notice Miwa scrutinizing him. "What did you eat for dinner on Friday?"

Kai thinks about it for a moment. "Yuanyaki salmon."

"You didn't make any for me?"

"Of course not," Kai bristles, "it was at the Sendou house."

At this, Ibuki lowers the magazine enough to peer over the top of it.

"Does salmon usually give you heartburn?" Miwa suggests coyly, and Kai frowns again.

"No."

"Did you ever get heartburn in France?" Surely all of the hot coffees and bread in France would aggravate Kai's digestive system more than fish.

"No, and why are you grilling me on this?"

With a dramatic sigh, Miwa sets down his beer and leans forward in his chair, tenting his fingers under his chin. "Listen buddy, I don't know how to tell you this, but that's not heartburn."

Ibuki's magazine covers his face again.

"Of course it is, what else--"

"It's Aichi."

Silence.

Kai's face goes through a dozen shades of red and just as many expressions, from confused to horrified to embarrassed to resigned, finally settling on indignant.

"What?" is all he manages to say, and it's not a question of whether Kai heard him but rather one of how long it would take Kai to acknowledge that Miwa was right.

"Aichi," Miwa repeats firmly.

Kai deflates faster than a balloon, picking at his fingernails with more force than is strictly necessary. He's going to pick off the skin and make his hands bleed at this rate. "I... what does he have to do with—"

Ibuki speaks up from behind his magazine, flipping a page idly. "You're in love with him, Kai."

It's obvious, isn't it? It always had been, from way back before the Asia Circuit—Miwa saw the way Kai fretted over Aichi during that whole PSY-whatsit incident—all the way through the aftermath of the Link Joker invasion when the newly un-Reversed Kai walked out of the Tatsunagi building with his hand in Aichi's, to the time Aichi inexplicably disappeared for weeks and Kai spending every day with him when he returned. Aichi had been painfully in love with Kai for a long time, but it's obvious to everyone in this room that Kai feels the same, if he's not even _more_ painfully in love with Aichi.

Embarrassing.

Kai scoffs, but rather than deny the facts, he stalks off to Miwa's kitchen and starts rifling through the cabinets for god-knows-what, letting plates and cups and bowls clink together with exaggerated and unnecessary loudness that told Miwa he was trying to buy time and think up a suitable excuse to change the subject.

Not that Miwa will let him. Judging by Ibuki's raised eyebrow, he won't, either.

"Kaaaai, get out of my kitchen."

"Do either of you want tea?"

Miwa clicks his tongue. "No, and neither do you." He follows Kai into the kitchen and grabs him by the wrist. It's maybe a sign of how defeated Kai is about this whole situation that he lets Miwa take him back to the sitting room, slides down the wall to the floor, and pulls his knees to his chest. He doesn't look up, instead focused on his feet. "It... it's that obvious, is it?"

"Oh yeah," Miwa says at the same time as Ibuki says "yes."

Kai lets out a small moan and presses his forehead into his knees. "Does he... know..."

Miwa and Ibuki exchange another look.

"Probably not," Ibuki says carefully.

"He's a bit..." Miwa tries to think of the most polite way to describe Aichi's seeming obliviousness to Kai's feelings. Then again, maybe it's not obliviousness after all. "Obtuse, when it comes to this sort of thing."

"Obtuse?" Kai repeats, glancing up.

"He likes you," Ibuki offers, "but he's not sure if you feel the same despite you being painfully obvious about it. So he tries to test the waters by dropping hints that could just as easily be read as platonic."

"What hints?" Kai says exasperatedly, and Ibuki holds up a hand as if to say _there you have it._

"He's too shy to make the first move, or to say anything that might be crossing into uncomfortable territory," Miwa goes on, "which means _you_ have to hold his hand, tell him you like him, that sort of thing."

Kai sputters. "I—I can't just—"

"Yes you can. Here." Miwa pulls Kai to his feet and moves the chair by his desk over to where Kai now stands. "We can practice, a little roleplaying. I'll be Aichi."

 _Roleplaying?_ Kai mouths, but Miwa ignores him and kneels on the chair so the top of his head reaches Kai's chin. He's about Aichi's height here, much to Kai's incredible embarrassment—he's red-faced now in a way Miwa had only ever seen a few times in their entire lives—and he gazes up at Kai with a vapid smile and says, in a slightly high-pitched voice, "brr, Kai-kun, my hands are cold... will you warm them?"

Ibuki snorts with laughter. At least someone is enjoying himself.

"Miwa—"

"No Kai-kun," Miwa warns, "it's me, _Sendou Aichi_ , your dear friend whose hands are cold, _won't you warm them._ "

Kai looks at the ground, face now redder than it has ever been, and reaches in his pockets. "Do you... want a pair of gloves?"

There's a quiet _oh my god_ from the sofa and Miwa raps Kai's forehead with two fingers. Kai winces. "No! You're supposed to offer to hold my hands, you sad gay coward!"

"This isn't easy for me!" Kai cries indignantly, rubbing his forehead.

 _That_ much is obvious, seeing as Kai and Aichi had been friends for years and both obviously wanted to be _more than friends_ but neither of them were capable of initiating the relationship they both yearned for, and it's this hesitation that leads Miwa to conclude that if they weren't going to do something about it, he would.

 _"Kai-kun,"_ Miwa says loudly, with more force, _"my hands are cold."_

Kai looks over at Ibuki, imploring him without words to save him, but it's too late for that now, because Kai is going to hold Aichi's hands no matter what.

His movement is slow as he reaches for Miwa's hands, chewing on the bottom of his lip so hard he's in danger of breaking the skin.

They're roleplaying, but the jolt through Miwa's body is real when Kai's hands make contact with his.

"Kai-kun," Miwa says breathlessly, slipping in and out of his Aichi voice, "will you kiss me?"

"Miwa!" Kai says exasperatedly, trying to pull his hands away, but Miwa maintains a vice grip on them.

"Eh? Miwa-kun? No Kai-kun, it's me, _Aichi._ Won't you kiss me, Kai-kun? You like me, right?"

If it were physically possible for Kai to evaporate into thin air at that moment, he would have, but since he occupies a regrettably solid human body, he has to accept that Miwa isn't going to let him escape this one.

"I don't know how," he whispers hoarsely, and Miwa slaps his own forehead this time.

"Oh for crying out loud, let me do it—"

"W-w-w-wait!" Kai is horribly red now, like he'd gotten a very bad sunburn, and his hands are pushing Miwa back by the shoulders. "Aichi wouldn't do it first like th—"

"That's why you've been pining after each other for six years, Kai! Because neither of you wants to do it first! Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith!"

"Ibuki, say someth—"

Ibuki has completely abandoned all pretenses with the magazine and is now sitting upright on the sofa, hands folded in his lap, as he expectantly watches the scene unfold in front of him like one of those mildly interesting Korean dramas Miwa's mom used to watch.

"You two are the worst friends _ever,"_ Kai mutters.

"Love you too, Kai. Now." Miwa puts his hands on Kai's shoulders. "Since Aichi is shorter than you—"

"Do we have to do this in front of _him?"_ Kai all but pleads, jerking his thumb toward Ibuki.

Ibuki's smile is almost evil on him. "Don't mind me."

"You have to lean down like this," Miwa continues on, pulling Kai's neck down, "and tilt your head like this... and..."

If Kai holding his hand was a jolt, kissing him was like lightning.

Kai is terribly inexperienced and doesn't move his lips to match Miwa's until Miwa kind of tugs at Kai's bottom lip. He's not _great_ at it but a little practice and he would definitely be able to make Aichi happy.

Aichi's a lucky man.

When Miwa pulls back, Kai's expression is glassy, confused, and mortified, though as he finally regains his composure, he starts trailing his tongue over his bottom lip.

Ibuki sits on the couch, a smile on his face.

"There," Miwa says finally, "just do that except with one hand on Aichi's cheek and the other on his waist, and you'll make him one happy boy."

Kai can only make a tiny noise of defeat in the back of his throat and doesn't say another word even as the three of them pile into Miwa's large bed and Miwa drapes himself over both of them, with Kai sandwiched in the middle.

* * *

The night is cloudy and cold, but that doesn't deter hundreds of people from enjoying the winter festival. Lights and music and laughter cut through the gloomy air, filling Miwa with a completely different kind of warmth.

But not everyone is warm.

Aichi rubs his hands together as they walk. "It's really cold tonight, isn't it, Kai-kun?"

This is it, Miwa realizes, the moment he had prepared Kai for, following the script with uncanny precision. He tugs on Ibuki's sleeve and jerks his chin toward Kai and Aichi, who are walking a few feet in front of them, and Ibuki lifts both eyebrows in what Miwa assumes is anticipation.

"Yeah," Kai says, and Miwa wonders briefly if he's going to have to intevene on Kai's oblivious behalf, again.

They walk in silence for a few steps before Aichi tries again. "My hands are really numb."

Kai starts to reach into his pocket, where he's shoved a pair of gloves. "Do you want..."

Ibuki coughs loudly, startling both Aichi and Kai.

"Are you okay, Ibuki-kun?" Aichi asks.

"Yeah," Ibuki says, making direct eye contact with Kai, "but I think I'm going to get a hot drink to _warm my hands up,_ " and the implication couldn't be more clear.

Miwa catches on immediately. "I'll come with you, Ibuki! Mind your heartburn, Kai. See you two later."

Kai opens his mouth, eyes wide, but Miwa and Ibuki slip away from them before he can say anything, leaving him to deal with this situation on his own.

They don't go far, just far enough that Kai and Aichi aren't aware of their presence but close enough to see what's going on. Aichi says something to Kai, tapping a finger to his chin, and Kai shrugs.

_Come on, you shy coward, just do it._

An eternity passes before Kai runs his hand through his hair and reaches for Aichi's hand, first brushing his fingers against the back of Aichi's hand, and then hesitantly hooking his fingers around Aichi's. Aichi turns red but smiles brightly, and they both fumble their hands together for a few more awkward seconds before they've successfully managed to comfortably hold each other's hands.

 _"Yes,"_ Miwa whispers, pumping his fist.

"He finally did it," Ibuki murmurs, and he's watching the two of them walk and talk with an almost wistful expression.

"Do you think he's going to kiss him?" Miwa wonders.

"It took him six years to work up the courage just to hold his hand, so I doubt it."

Miwa laughs before setting off on a slow pace through the crowds, keeping an eye on the new red-faced couple ahead of them.

"Your turn next, Ibuki," Miwa says cheerfully, and Ibuki sputters like Miwa can't see the way Ibuki enjoys Anjou Mamoru flirting with him.

* * *

Kai doesn't come back to Miwa's apartment that night and doesn't answer Miwa's text of _hey buddy, is Aichi a good kisser?_ (the audacity of him) so he texts Aichi instead with a much less embarrassing _hey Aichi, Kai's staying with me and didn't come back tonight, are you with him?_

"You're really tense, Ibuki," Miwa comments as he waits for Aichi's response.

Ibuki grunts. "I didn't ask you to spoon me."

Miwa giggles and wraps his arm tighter around Ibuki's waist. "Think of it as good practice for when—"

"If you say his name, I will punch you."

"Haaaah, you're no fun... hey, Aichi responded." Miwa holds out the phone so they can read it together.

_I'm so sorry that he worried you, Miwa-kun! Kai-kun is here with me... he's asleep or I would tell him to text you back right away._

They contemplate this new development for a moment before Ibuki says "that bastard really did it, huh."

"Yeah."

Cuddled up on Miwa's bed, they begin to drift off to sleep. Miwa's thoughts turn to their childhood, that lost time that they could never go back to, where things were simpler. But even now, with everything going on in their lives, and with them drifting apart physically, he cherishes the time they can spend together and the happiness they've allowed themselves to seek out.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments keep me going


End file.
